Vol 3, No 1 (2015)

Finding Spaces for Productive Cities

Planning for Sustainable Food Production

"The production of food has long been a topic we called agriculture. It was an activity that took place somewhere in the countryside or even outside of the country, and the harvest we found back in the supermarket, in neatly organised packages and shelves. Up to 2010 this was the dominant way, maybe even the only way food came to us. With these kind of production systems, landscape architects did not have much to do, as the land was organised according to the most effective production system and planning was fully based on farm efficiency.

The 2014 AESOP conference on Sustainable Food Planning marked a transition. So far, the discussion about sustainability had been an issue of implementation in existing large-scale farming. Now, the Urban Agriculture movement starts getting traction. Sustainability and the growth of food in urban environments came slowly, but certainly, together. The tentative highpoint of this merger was reached during this conference. People with abundant expertise in food systems, sustainability, resource management and entrepreneurship used their knowledge to plan and design a substantial amount of food production in urban precincts. Why is this urgent?"

Table of Contents

Editorial

Planning for Sustainable Food Production: A New Challenge for City Developers